Federal Laws That Prohibit Workplace Harassment

All California employees have the right to work in an environment that is free from harassment and hostility. Not only do California’s state employee protection laws prohibit workplace harassment, but these protections are also key aspects of federal worker protection laws. These include the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enacted in 1990.

When you’ve suffered a hostile work environment due to harassment in the workplace, your Orange County workplace discrimination lawyer may base legal action on your behalf on any of the above federal laws as well as California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

What Constitutes Workplace Harassment?

Despite growing awareness and protections, workplace environments still harbor employers, managers, and coworkers who sometimes engage in discriminatory and harassing behavior. The most common types of workplace harassment include the following:

• Discrimination, or harassment based on an employee’s inherent characteristics, such as gender, race, religion, country of origin, sexual identity, pregnancy, age, or disability
• Sexual harassment, or unwanted touching, unwanted sexual advances, requesting sexual favors, making sexually suggestive jokes, displaying graphic sexual images, or quid pro quo exchanges of benefits for sex
• Retaliation: harassing behaviors meant as punishment or retribution for an employee’s sick leave, whistleblowing, or previous complaints of discrimination or harassment
• Cyberbullying: online stalking, posting insults or threats on social media, or sending threatening emails to an employee or coworker
• Creating a hostile work environment through a workplace culture of yelling, harassment, or retaliation
• Third-party harassment from contractors, suppliers, vendors, or clients in the workplace environment
• Power harassment: This occurs when a person in a position of power bullies, threatens, or intimidates those in lower positions
• Psychological harassment, such as gaslighting or intentionally spreading false rumors

These are some, but not all, examples of how workplace harassment can occur. The above behaviors are prohibited by federal laws for employee workplace protections.

Employer Liability In Workplace Harassment Cases

Even when the employer is not the source of the harassment, they have an obligation to monitor the workplace, put rules in place for employee behaviors, and take prompt action to address and correct the problem when an employee complains of harassment.

Under federal laws, an employer is legally liable for damages caused to employees who experience workplace harassment. Damages in workplace harassment cases occur when an employee loses wages, loses an opportunity for advancement or promotions, or suffers wrongful termination in Orange County.

Proving employer liability requires demonstrating that the employer knew or should have reasonably known about the harassment and failed to take prompt action to correct the situation, thereby allowing the employee to suffer damages.

How FEHA Enhances Anti-Harassment Laws In California Workplaces

Under California Government Code section 12923, California lowered the standard for proving workplace harassment. Under federal laws prohibiting harassment, a California employee had to prove that the harassment was so pervasive that it caused a decline in their productivity. However, California’s code section 12923 states the following:

“…the plaintiff need not prove that his or her tangible productivity has declined as a result of the harassment. It suffices to prove that a reasonable person subjected to the discriminatory conduct would find, as the plaintiff did, that the harassment so altered working conditions as to make it more difficult to do the job.” 

In other words, an employee may still be productive in the workplace despite harassment, but if the harassment makes their job more difficult, they have the right to file a workplace harassment claim to recover their damages. Contact our legal team to discuss your case with our Orange County employment lawyers today.